WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, Nov. 26, 2012) – The New Zealand Air Force Orion is returning to New Zealand after failing to find 3 i-Kiribati fishermen.

Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand reports no sign of the fishermen, who have been missing since Thursday.

Search and Rescue Coordinator Dave Wilson says the Orion and its crew searched an area of 42,000 square kilometers this afternoon:

"They’ve covered that area very, very well and there’s really nothing to provide any information to us that suggests that there are any other areas to search so based on that, it was decided to bring the Airforce Orion back to New Zealand."

Rescue services in Kiribati and Honolulu are still assessing what the next step will be, however both are still running individual search efforts.